Newsletter

Commission to discuss Jackson replacement Monday

Mayor Pro Tem Corey Johnson said Thursday he expects the Augusta Commission to nominate District 6 Commissioner-elect Ben Hasan to replace his predecessor, Joe Jackson, who resigned his seat Wednesday four months before the completion of his final term.

Johnson requested the issue be addressed at Monday’s called commission meeting at 11:30 a.m., according to clerk Lena Bonner. The group also will adopt and approve the millage at that meeting.

In a text message, Johnson said Hasan, who was elected in a July runoff as Jackson’s successor, will “more than likely” be nominated to fill the position early, no later than the first commission meeting in September.

Hasan could not be reached for comment by phone, e-mail or at his Augusta home.

“It’s unfortunate,” Johnson said of Jackson’s resignation. “He will be missed up there.”

Johnson said he and Jackson, both of whom were elected to the commission in 2007, built a bond during their nearly eight years in office. Both won two terms in office and could not seek re-election this year.

“We started our journey together, and we were supposed to leave together, but I understand (his) position,” Johnson said.

Though Jackson has not specifically said why he left, commission members said that for several weeks they had heard that Jackson, 43, was considering an early departure to care for his daughter and two sons after his wife of 20 years, Mary Bea Jackson, died April 27 from complications related to breast cancer.

“It must be extremely difficult,” Johnson said of Jackson’s losing his wife. “My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family, and we will forever be friends.”

Jackson’s resignation letter had yet to be received by the governor’s office late Thursday afternoon, spokeswoman Sasha Dlugolenski said. Jackson’s photo and contact information had been removed Thursday from the commission’s Web page, however, and his District 6 seat listed as “currently vacant.”